“For this office--one of considerable responsibility--we require a soldier of tried experience and character. Sir Harry is no doubt endowed with many commendable qualities, but at his age it is impossible that he should have gained the experience without which he could not possibly discharge to advantage the onerous duties which would await him. Nor is that the only obstacle, your grace. I have not only chosen my man--and such a man as I have described--but I have already offered, and he has already accepted, the commission. So that the post can no longer be considered vacant.” “But the commission was signed only last night by His Majesty--signed in blank, as I have reason to know.” “True. But I am none the less pledged. I am expecting at any moment now, the gentleman upon whom the appointment is already conferred.” Buckingham did not dissemble his annoyance. “May one inquire his name?” he asked, and the question was a demand. Albemarle hesitated. He realized the danger to Holles in naming him at this unfortunate juncture. Buckingham might go to any lengths to have him removed, and there was that in Holles’s past, in his very name, which would supply abundant grounds. “His name would not be known to your grace. He is a comparatively obscure soldier, whose merits, however, are fully known to me, and I am persuaded that a fitter man for the office could not be found. But something else will, no doubt, offer within a few days, and then....” Buckingham interrupted him arrogantly. “It is not a question of something else, your grace, but of this. I have already obtained His Majesty’s sanction. It is at his suggestion that I am here. It is fortunate that the person you had designated for the command is obscure. He will have to give way, and you may console him with the next vacant post. If your grace requires more explicit instruction I shall be happy to obtain you His Majesty’s commands in writing.”